The ever narrowing tunnel that is the Tour finds us in our second rest day in Lourdes surrounded by a surreal mix of history and religious commercialism. The cure, if it's here, has a price tag. The brief pause is almost over. Laundry done, group fed, emails sent, bikes cleaned, images backed up, uploaded and finally push the button on this post. Paris is just over some very big hills. I have no doubts the team and our Dutch friends will make the Champs Elysees on Saturday.
Stage 15 wound through rolling fields of sunflowers, corn and wheat.
Kristen and Kym carve their way through the sunflowers early on Stage 15
Heidi eating a sandwich scans the bin of food for the next victim
No place for false modesty... the women have to pull off kit in all kinds of semi-public places for their nature breaks
A downhill section gives the team a chance to get into the drops
Nice smile from Kristen close to the end of the stage
The red accents of SRAM and GIRO
Heidi enjoying another moment of sandwich bliss
The photo car looks so official it stops pedestrians in their tracks
A town fountain provides a stream of water to cool off Kristen
Kate and Heidi circle their 1027th roundabout
Kristen stretching out in the parking lot in Pau
Table and Chairs
Rounding the Corner
What happened to Maria? She is not in any of the pictures and there is no status update on her injury…
Maria has bounced back… she’s ridden every day and there’s no doubt she will complete the whole tour.
::M
That is awesome! Following the posts about this tour has been more interesting than the TDF…
Are you guys controlled by anti doping or this is not as official?
No doping control, but we’re not racing so there’s zero incentive (monetary or results) for anyone to cheat.
So good to hear your words on Maria’s condition Michael. The lady is a stalwart and will be there with you all in Paris. The end will be a welcome respite to the entire team and the strain and pressure of the last few weeks and months will slide off and be washed away with the road dirt. Mt special good wishes to Marie, and the very best of luck to all of the Reve.com team the families and all of the supporters.
I wish I could be in Paris in person, to cheer you down the street of Champions which you all are.
Douglas
I can not express with words how impressed and inspired I am by your journey.
I am thankful I became aware of your adventure and have followed
each of your posts. Wihout doing the challenge myself I catch only a glimpse of the level of difficulty and can
see in these last images your tiredness behind your smiles. You are true
champions indeed. 100%. Keep your spirit and your legs the last few “hills” to Paris!
Good on you all! Enjoy your deserved rest day.
Reading Heidi’s blog on Peloton, you’d think she was doing this solo. Only a couple times has she mentioned the other riders doing the tour – and even more rarely by name. It’s too bad this blog wasn’t daily as promised. There’s a lot of good photos and information here. Having to suffer through Heidi’s rants and potty-mouth entries makes me wonder if the sponsors knew what they were getting into.
The sponsors knew — that is how she wrote before the ride. Kate Powlison and Kristen Peterson also blogged. From reading the blogs and following the Twitter feeds, I gather there was some “mean girls” interaction going on. That would be unfortunate. Regardless, completing the route is a huge accomplishment for the entire Reve team, not just the 6 women.
Reve: see this discussion in a women’s forum. Maybe the kit could be sold through the store that sponsors that forum? I would love one, too.
I am in Australia, and only found out about this journey/project after googling for information about female cyclists in the Tour de France. I am gobsmacked that this has not received any press in my country.
Congrats to both the riders and the crew. You all deserve it.